Why and How SCAF must fold in Egypt?

SCAF one source of legitimacy was their popular backing, now that they have lost it, they've lost what legitimacy they had

In large part because of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) the revolution against Mubarak and the old regime was nonviolent. When on 31 January 2011 its then obscure leaders refused to shoot at unarmed demonstrators at the behest of Mubarak, the revolution won, and the dictator had to flee.

With the loss of thirty innocent lives in the Maspero massacre on October 9, and the ongoing Tahrir square violence against unarmed demonstrators, the brutal undemocratic character reminiscent of the old regime is being cruelly exposed. The government did well to resign. SCAF is now alone. If it appoints another nondescript government, it will fare no better. If it appoints a military government, it will have transformed itself into a junta of the worst type, bringing the country into huge turmoil over months, while finding itself completely isolated domestically and internationally.

The only way forward is for SCAF to fold and disband, and to be replaced by a transitional government of the revolutionary forces.

This is an unfortunate and unnecessary development. When Mubarak was forced to leave on 11 February 2011, SCAF retained an immense popularity because of its contribution to the new logic in the country, a logic where people choose their leaders freely, and where people can decide to bring the regime down if they so wish. The legitimacy of government depends on the people. Period. This is the central lesson of the Egyptian nonviolent revolution. When large unarmed demonstrations march in the cities and villages of Egypt shouting ‘al-sha‘b yurid isqat al-nazam’, the people want to bring the down the regime, they must be heard. The people, by definition, retain the legitimacy of their government.

What legitimacy in contrast does SCAF have, having suspended the constitution, then requested a team of jurists to amend it in a matter of ten days, then put it to referendum, then completely reneged on that text by issuing a constitutional declaration gleaned out of thin air, then ordered parliamentary elections according to an arbitrarily decided law, while vaguely promising presidential elections in accordance with a constitution yet to be written? What legitimacy can result from such a morass?

The question that the SCAF generals need to ask themselves is the following: What legitimacy do they have left? The answer is none. Nobody has elected them, nowhere in the constitution is a ‘SCAF’ mentioned, and its practices raise significant questions on how it differs from Mubarak. On the day after Mubarak’s departure, revolutionary Egypt woke up to an unnoticed and foreboding sign: the first visitor to SCAF amongst the world’s 190+ world leaders was the Sudanese genocidal dictator. A cascade of other troubling signs followed, including the erratic constitutional steps, and most dramatically the two hallmarks of the Egyptian public scene since Mubarak’s fall: the continuation of a state of emergency and arbitrary laws, and the arrest and trial by military courts of 13,000 Egyptians, more than all of the trials under thirty years of the previous regime. In the past few weeks, the repression of unarmed demonstrators taking to the street, in Maspero then in Tahrir, further narrowed the gap between the ancient and the new regimes. For Egyptians today, there is little difference left between Mubarak and Tantawi.

SCAF must therefore fold. The best way to do so without plunging the country into chaos is the rapid emergence of a transitional government consisting of the largest possible number of Egyptian personalities who actively opposed Mubarak, including some leading women and men from the youth movement. This transitional council would be tasked with one priority: to pass an electoral law that ensures the free and fair election of a constituent assembly, which will also appoint a transitional government until the constitution is agreed and new elections are decided. This stands for an improved Tunisian model, and ensures that the live forces of the revolution are placed in charge of the country until elections under a new constitution institutionalize the right of the Egyptian citizens to choose their leaders; -- and bring them down when, like SCAF, they consider themselves grander than the people.

Chibli Mallat is Visiting Professor in Islamic Legal Studies at Harvard Law School and author of ‘Revising Egypt’s Constitution: A Contribution to the Constitutional Amendment Debate’, Harvard International Law Journal, February 2011

Ahram Online welcomes readers' comments on all issues covered by the site, along with any criticisms and/or corrections. Readers are asked to limit their feedback to a maximum of 1000 characters (roughly 200 words). All comments/criticisms will, however, be subject to the following code

We will not publish comments which contain rude or abusive language, libelous statements,
slander and personal attacks against any person/s.

We will not publish comments which contain racist remarks or any kind of racial
or religious incitement against any group of people, in Egypt or outside it.

We welcome criticism of our reports and articles but we will not publish personal
attacks, slander or fabrications directed against our reporters and contributing
writers.

We reserve the right to correct, when at all possible, obvious errors in spelling
and grammar. However, due to time and staffing constraints such corrections will
not be made across the board or on a regular basis.

Please Wait

4

MOHAMMED SOLIMAN ELWANY SOLIMAN

13-11-2013 06:36pm

0-

0+

SCAF RESOLUTIONS AND OFFICIAL STATEMENTS

I NEED ALL THE SCAF STATEMENTS FROM 11/2/2011 TO 30/6/2012 TO REREAD THEM AND ANALYZE,IF YOU PLEASE

Email

Name

Comment's Title

Comment

Please Wait

3

Wael

24-11-2011 12:14pm

0-

0+

Corrupt Brotherhood

Completely agree with "Dance with the devil". I do not even need to say any more.

Email

Name

Comment's Title

Comment

Please Wait

2

karim Hari

24-11-2011 03:59am

0-

0+

Assad elepty

What are you. A zionist I bet. Since when the new uprising has anything to do with the MB? You mean like. They met with the devil MB so let`s take to the streets. The eytians aren't zionist or zionist fooled americans.

Email

Name

Comment's Title

Comment

Please Wait

1

Assad elepty

23-11-2011 09:23am

0-

0+

Dance with the devil

SCAF danced with the devil when they held secret talks with the MB. Now the devil was the catalyst behind the latest uprising.
SCAF and Tantawi you are fools.
Without SCAF who or what is going to keep the Islamists they empowered in check?
The MB and Salfists and otther Islamists will destroy egypt, make no mistake about it.
WAKE UP EGYPT, do not hand the state over to Islamists who speak with forked tounges.